The present invention relates to a fluid sample tube stand having a holder support mechanism for vertically supporting a holder in which a tube such as a fluid sample tube for containing a blood sample is inserted.
When blood samples are extracted from a blood vessel in a human body and stored in fluid sample tubes, these fluid sample tubes are held on a blood sample tube stand. One conventional blood sample tube stand is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. The illustrated blood sample tube stand, generally denoted at 2, has a stand block 4 in the form of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped. The stand block 4 has a plurality of vertical cylindrical holes 8 defined therein and opening at an upper surface 6 of the stand block 4. The holes 8 vertically receive fluid sample tubes (blood sample tubes) which have hemispherical bottoms. The hoes 8 have open ends defines by tapered surfaces 8a for easy insertion of the blood sample tube into the hole 3.
The conventional blood sample tube stand 2 serves to only hold the blood sample tubes which contain blood samples, and does not perform any other functions. If a blood sample tube is mounted in a blood sample tube holder and a blood sample is to be introduced into the blood sample tube through a winged needle, then the blood sample tube holder has to be either manually gripped by the user or placed on a table or the like. When the blood sample is to be taken from a human arm, one of the hands of the user has to be occupied to hold the arm. After one blood sample tube is filled up with blood, another blood sample tube is inserted in the blood sample tube holder. If many data are to be obtained from the blood and there are many blood donors to extract blood samples from, then many blood sample tubes must be used to store the extracted blood samples. The above process for obtaining many blood samples and storing them in many blood sample tubes, using the conventional blood sample tube stand, is tedious and time-consuming.